A major train accident was averted on Thursday morning after a portion of wall of old BEST sub-station collapsed on the railway track near Masjid station on Harbor line. This incident happend at around 7.15 am due to which 50 local trains of Harbor line were partially cancelled and around 100 were delayed by up to 15 minutes.
According to Central Railway officials, a Panvel bound suburban local was supposed to pass from the track within a few moments. They said that the motorman of the Panvel bound train from CSMT did not start the train from Masjid platform as he observed that some portion of wall portion fell near track and it is unsafe to run the train.
"Motorman did a good job by timely stopping the local train before the spot on Thursday morning," Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway Shivaji Sutar, said, adding that Motorman SN Kamble informed about the wall collapse to the train's guard, who immediately conveyed it to the control room.
After the incident, railway staff rushed the site and clear the debris within 15 minutes then Panvel-CSMT local which was halted around 25 meter away from the site departed at around 7.30 am.
The CR said that it had appraised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about the incident and the civic body advised it to remove the remaining portion of the structure to avoid traffic disruption. Hence two hours emergency block was taken and hanging portions of collapsed wall were removed.
Emergency block for the removal of hanging pieces of collapsed wall started at 2 pm and was completed at 4.10 pm . After that track flagged 'safe' by the competent authority and trains services on Harbor line between CSMT - Wadala were restored which were suspended from 2 pm due to block.
First local train on Harbor line was departed at 4.30 from CSMT for Panvel after the block.
Due to the emergency block that was held between 2 pm and 4 pm, suburban train services were not available between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Wadala Road stations, CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said. "The passengers were permitted to travel on the mainline via Dadar and Kurla during the block period," he said.
Railway officials said that they learnt from civic officials that the dilapidated wall was a part of the structure of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transports (BEST).
"It is a part of the building (indoor type)and consumer construct such substations" said BEST spokesperson adding that necessary precaution is taken. No impact on electric supply. BEST has also operated 9 additional buses for convenience of passengers during the block.
